So what do you do when; you turn sixty, get laid off after 40 years, and your wife of 36 years passes away after a three day illness?
Drink? My family’s been all over that one.
Try something new? Something that combines two of your passions, photography and kayaking?
Did I mention I’m a Tea Party Conservative?
And a photographer…
And …
Doug, my co-conspirator. Retired Marine. Best friend. (Doug passed away in Georgia in January 2023)
If you don’t want to read the political posts select Photos or North River on the sidebar.
New photo, Summer 2015. 
On the North River 
Good for you, sorry about your loss. Life does go on as you appear to be working on. Keep on paddling, it helps.
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Where did I get that photo? Two words, cream rinse.
Thanks for the good wishes, may you be blessed with a fair wind at your back and swift currents in any direction you are heading.
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John it was good to meet you out on the river today. Thanks for taking the pictures. Hope to see you out there again. Think I will leave the wood boat home and take the pungo next time.
Chris
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Check out the gallery or select the category Kayaking or photos to avoid the political stuff.
Stuff from today will be up later this evening. Had guests when I got home.
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Dear John
I discovered your Blog while reminiscing of fishing trips with my father.
I was saddened to hear of Donie’s untimely passing.
Please accept My apologies for being so distanced, that such an event can go unnoticed for so long.
It’s obvious in your writing that you truly shared a deep love.
I hope your blog is helping to ease your pain. I find it a quality blend of political and artistic information.
Please give My love to your Mother and Mary.
Bill
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Thank you Bill,
I’ll have to look up your number.
Mom and Mary are currently living with me, Mom isn’t able to live by herself and we are trying to work out another solution for her.
I hope all is well with your family.
John
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Hi cousin!
– Kristina
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Hi,
Who are you? I’m not aware that my cousins had any girls they named Kristina.
JC
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Yes but you have a sister named Kristina, or have you forgotten about me since I saw you last Friday dropping mother off? The “Hi cousin” post was directed to Billy, our cousin.
Guess I should come by more often! : D
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That email address is unknown to me, and you are not my “cousin”, Sister.
We just got back from NH from visiting the Danish cousins.
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First of all, I’m sorry, really sorry for the loss of your wife. Then the loss of you job. I can only imagine what those two losses can do to you and your psyche. I try not to play the ‘blame game’ and I usually succeed, but I hold our current POTUS just a little to blame NOT TO SOLVE ALL PROBLEMS, but not to move us in the right direction to solve ANY.
My husband lost his job a year ago, I just turned 60 and am on disability (social security). Now, there’s a wing and a prayer. I look forward to coming by at seeing your comics as well as your more serious articles. i like what I see, so far. Although not remotely political intentionally so, swing by http;//lupuschroncles.com
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Thank You Annie,
Me and my psyche thank you. It’s at times like these we find out who our friends are and how close your family is.
This blog gives me a reason to get up some mornings. Sharing my photos gives me great pleasure. I’ll have some new ones from a river paddle I was able to squeeze out before dark.
Best of luck to you and your husband,
John
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John, Well here it is 5 years later and thank the Lord we’ve been thru it, and seem to be coming out of it w/ some discipline on our part. Bankruptcy ensued but we seem to be making it come hook or by crook. Your blog’s looking good. Me, I continue to blog, but it has been feeling the challenges to it’s existence each time I face a health challenge. Am I able to use a few of the cartoon images that you published today; the one w/Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton, and 2 others on my Facebook page? I don’t know if they’re copyright protected.
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Yes, it’s been a rough five years in some ways. My aunt passed away, I’ve had back issues that got me off the water and I am just getting back to that. Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home.
But on the other hand Mom is holding on pretty well and will turn 89 in a few months and I now have a lady in my life. A girlfriend, at my age!
Most of the stuff I put up today including the Ivanka/Chelsea item came from a daily posting from a survivors group I’ve been part of. That is why I referred to it as Guest. So, it’s second of third hand already. If they come for you, they’ll come for us, first.
Hang in there!
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I see by your photos that you had a nice day today – hope you enjoyed it as it is your birthday! Happy Birthday Bro! Looks like a great week to spend time on the river!
Karen
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Thank you Sis,
I hope that some of you Cooks join me on the river this season. I have plenty of hulls including a Leah sized one.
John
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Found this in my E-mail
Happy Birthday John.
The pictures of the river look great.
Bill
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Thanks Bill,
Donie would take care of remembering the birthdays, now I have to start assembling the dates for myself and remembering to send cards. So whats your birthdate?
John
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I really enjoy your blog. I’m an old (same age as you) Humarock boy now living in New Hampshire.
I’ve jumped off that bridge as well as the one over the South River at Humarock more times than I can count. I spent many a summer exploring both the North and South Rivers.
Thank you for the pictures and the evoked memories.
-John Reddy
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Thanks,
I’m still tied to the People’s Republic by two older relatives, otherwise I’d be out of here.
But then I’d miss the river, a lot.
Most of my kayaking is done on the North River and nearby areas, to see those photos while skipping the political stuff, click on category Kayak or Photos.
John
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Hello, Found your site because of the quote from the CZECH REPUBLIC, 28 APRIL 2011. We have a North River in ST. MARYS,CAMDEN COUNTY, GEORGIA. JUST SAYING HI TO YOU
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And Hi, Back! My North River doesn’t have alligators, how about yours?
John
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Well, not as many as we use to have. And we still have a few otters playing around in the river. We are close to the intercoastal waterway and not very far from the Atlantic. We have la few submarines —-they are very close,,,,and they come w/nuclear weapons. My husbands home town. I am originally from Miami. i do have a few relatives in New England. My brother lived in Dixfield/Rumford , Maine. But, he moved back to S Fla. Maine is a very beautiful state. i have only been there a few times, but loved every moment I was there. The 1st time i skied was in Maine.
Janice
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Ah! Rumford ME. Are you familiar with The Rumford Meteor?
http://rumfordmeteor.com/
I have friends in Georgia that have been trying to get me to get out of the Peoples Republic and move down there. So there’s a North River you say?
John
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OK…I’m following you. And, I’m the guy who wrote the stories on PacifiParaTrooper http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/ about the Japanese planes flying over Ca. taking aerial photos. Looks like you have a fun website and I do like the pictures. I’m an “amateur” photographer also and, per my wife, retired, or whatever they call it. Just read “MY ABOUT” And, as you know, being a Tea Party Conservative is covered under our constitution, in the section on FREEDOM OF SPEECH”… At least your involved, beyond just pontificating about our problems; that I sincerely respect. Those are WWII stories my dad, an army captain, who shot down the whale with a 16″ land based gun, told me when I was kid in grade school. I’m just passing on what he said. Like I said in one of my responses to the PacifiParaTrooper, I’d like to know if my dad’s stories have been embellished or created using “writer’s prerogative” as a cover for the Japanese camps. However, I certainly can appreciate your point of view. You may know this also, but I saw a documentary on the History Channel (or somewhere last year) that a Japanese Zero was shot down, and crash landed on an Aleutians island. The Zero was gathered up, shipped back to the states, put together, flown and studied so we could find out why the Zero was so maneuverable, etc. My father-in-law, an NCO during WWII, was stationed in the Aleutians and told me he never saw any Japanese land, or invade the Aleutians , but he heard other soldiers telling stories of American troops supposedly fighting Japanese soldiers somewhere in the Aleutians. The questions about Japanese soldiers fighting and flying on and over our ground just keep coming. The planes that flew over Ca. could’ve come from the same “source” as the plane that was shot down over the Aleutians. These Ca. and Aleutian fly-overs were small events from what I was told, 1 plane, maybe two, so these Zeroes possibly could have been launched from a catapult on a much smaller Japanese ship, like a destroyer, or whatever they had at the time. I’m not interested in proving this right, or that wrong, I’m just curious. I would like to know the truth, whether or not the stories I’ve heard are true, or could be true. When I started reading PacifiParaTrooper articles, I thought, maybe these folks can help me find the truth, or some of the truth, if I provide them with what I know. So, I’m patiently standing by.
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Thanks for taking an interest and thanks for commenting. It’s very frustrating not getting feedback. Even on days with high levels of readership, no one comments. If you remember an old TV show “Car 54…”, there was a scene where Muldoon had a new partner who was unnerved by Muldoon’s taciturn, silent manner. When they arrested a crook who snarled “You dirty, stinking Cop!”, the new partner felt like kissing him! I feel like that some days with the blog.
Incidentally, the way the commenting approval is set up, after the first (approved) comment from then on your comments are automatically approved. I wasn’t even doing that before but then I got hit with a storm of comment-spam.
In regards to the Aleutians, look up “Dutch Harbor” and the Attu and Kiska campaign. Dutch Harbor was attacked prior to the Battle of Midway by two small enemy carriers, many historians feel that the diversion of those ships during the Midway campaign was a grave error. Attu and Kiska were painlessly invaded and held by the Japanese for roughly a year until a American Task Force could be spared to retake them. (Wikipedia: In 19 days of battle, 549 soldiers of the 7th Division (American) were killed and more than 1,000 injured. The Japanese lost over 2,850 men; only 29 prisoners were taken alive.)
The Japanese Zero that was captured was test flown which means it would have/could have been observed and new American designs that were built after the start of the war would be unknown at first to ground observers, some had characteristics similar to the Zero.
I think I’m a tad younger, my Dad was just too young to be in the service by the end of the war (Thank You President Truman for dropping the Bomb!). My Paternal Grandfather was in the Navy, in the Pacific, during the war and died shortly afterward of illness contracted during his service. So I never heard any stories of his experiences first hand, in fact, neither did my father.
God Bless all the men who have kept us free.
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How did MY picture of the 12 can and my buddies boat end up on your site?
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Sorry? Which picture on which of my posts are you talking about? Since there are no pictures of the Spit on this page I assume you are talking about another post. Also, the pictures here involving kayaking or the North or South Rivers are 99.9% my own.
If you click on the picture you should be able to read the photos file name. Tell me which one you are talking about.
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I love your humour though I do not like the Tea Party..I am British
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Well, I’m (by descent) Irish so I could say a few things about the British. However, bygones be bygones.
Thing is, the Tea Party I feel affiliated with is the new one. The one that is focused on the American Federal Government.
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I am half Irisn and i know what happened there.I must look up the nNew Te Party.I’ve not heard of it
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I lived on North River, That is Kings Bay, Camden County, Georgia. Moonshine was once shipped from our North River to Massachusetts way back in the 1930’s during prohibition.
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I almost forgot to say thanks for the booze! I had a relative that was a band leader during that time, he would have been a very good customer, very, very good.
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